Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Air hisses through the gaps of Will's fingers, cold and bitter, not quite warmed by the explosion yet, but the taste was there. She can't tell if she's choking on the air, her tears or the rain. Kym can feel Will's ragged breath against her back as he cradles her crumpled figure, his chest heaving out of sync with her own. Her leg throbs but it's secondary to the pain of watching Lauren save them, disappearing into the explosion. Disappearing, not dying. Never dying. The sounds around Kym are muted, muffled. She cannot hear the APD calling for reinforcements, cannot hear the factory crumbling, cannot make out the scattering members of the Phantom Scythe. Lauren's face is burned into her eyes, that last look shared between them conveying everything and nothing. She is Lune? Who is her partner? Who is she working with and why? Kym suddenly feels the anger, why is she questioning her best friend right now when she needs help? C'mon Kym get yourself together Lauren needs you. She takes one step forward and both she and Will fall to the ground. Will's hand falls from her mouth as he braces them both on the path before he sits down and she sits between his legs, lying against his chest, she looks up at Will. He is tired.

"Kym, are-" Will is cut off as voices grow louder. They both watch as Lukas is carried off on a stretcher.

"Oh, thank god that bastard lives," Kym says flippantly, rewarded by Will's choked laughter "now's not the time to joke, but I just had to get that one out there before I become catatonic."

"Kym, never change."

"We need to get in there, we need to get a cover story together for Lauren, Will. Oh god what a mess, we need to-"

"Okay, okay, Kym. Kym! Listen to me! We still don't even know if it was-" and that's when she begins to sob. Big, heaving sobs as the reality continues to crush down on her.

"Will, it was her. She was there. She saved my life. She saved all of us and now, and now..." She held her hands against her mouth, trying to stifle the sobs. She watches Will as his face goes blank as he processes the information.

"Who was with- Lauren's Lune? It's true- Who else...? Oh god Hermann's going to-" and before he could finish, their captain came running over with a face that make them both want to run.

"What the fuck happened here, Hawkes? Ladell?" He demands at the two bedraggled figures on the floor.

"Honestly, sir, we have no idea. Lune gave us a lead, we had a face off against the Phantom Scythe and then Lune saved the whole APD force"

"Lune also saved all the damn Phantom Scythe members too, none in our custody. Did you get close enough to Lune, who are they?"

"With all due respect, sir, Kym is injured and I would like to see her to hospital to get her injuries sorted and get out of this storm before you interrogate us," Will shifts his weight under Kym who allows herself to fall limp, not just for dramatic affect but to persuade Hermann. Their captain stares at them before his hard gaze softens, as if finally seeing the extent of what they had just been through.

"You have my leave, Hawkes, but I will want answers eventually. There is a lot to report- a fucking explosion for god sake," Hermann shakes his head and storms off, shouting for medics. Will struggles up, once on his feet he supports Kym as she leans heavily against him until the medical team arrive. He helps her onto the stretcher.

"We can't leave, we can't leave-" her, she can't finish the sentence. Kym shakes her head, watching the remains of the factory burn in the rain as they move towards and ambulance. Her friend is there, she can't leave her best friend there.

Drowsiness hits Kym in the ambulance, they had given her some strong painkillers. Apparently her injuries were worse than she thought, the adrenaline still coursing through her veins veiled the damage from her. But she wasn't worried about herself, her mind was reeling. Settled down in a private room with Will, finally out of the chaos, Kym's thoughts swirl. Thinking of Lauren in the factory, Lauren being Lune, Lauren being injured, Lauren being dead, Lauren lying, Lauren hiding, Lauren, Lauren, Lauren. Who was with her? Was it Kieran? It would explain him joining the force and her secrecy of their relationship. But then, does that mean he's part of the Phantom Scythe? A member of the Phantom Scythe in the police force?

"God, my head hurts," Kym moans.

"Really, just your head?" Will asks, half in jest, half in concern.

"Will, Lauren and Kieran are Lune."

"You've said. I know you had your suspicions, but you have blunt force trauma and currently dosed up on medication-"

"Will I'm serious! I'm serious. I looked into Lauren's eyes. I saw her. She saved me, Will. I was dead, I was falling off the roof and she caught me."

"She saved? You almost DIED?"

"And now she's probably dead, oh god, what are we going to say to Hermann? We have to cover for her and Kieran we can't let them go down-"

"Kieran!?"

"Oh, c'mon, put two and two together, Will, he just popped out of nowhere and suddenly he and Lauren had been secretly dating? How could we not see!"

"So that means... what was Lauren doing?"

"Don't you see? She was doing what we and Hermann have been failing to do. She's getting the job done and doing it damn bloody well, because that's our Lauren," Kym chokes up, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes.

"We need to help them."

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He manages on gulp of air before stuttering into short bursts, panting as the adrenaline rushes out and the reality and confusion sinks in. Will can feel Kym shaking underneath him. How on earth did they get involved in this? How on earth did they make it out alive? But of course, he already knew. The dread of knowing and denying, the name dying on Kym's lips that trembled under his fingers. Lauren. The rain was falling harder now, Will looks around, trying to see if there was anything he could do, any order her could give, any form of organisation, anything. But his heart pulls him away from that, he didn't want to be Lieutenant Hawkes right now, he wanted to be Will and Kym needed him. He wanted to be Will and process what they had just been through, their closest brush with danger and death, which still clung to them as dirt, fumes and blood. At this moment in time, clinging on to Kym, he is just happy she is okay, despite her distress. He hates that he has to silence her as she tries to ramble on about Lauren, worried that she has lost her mind or would get her friend in trouble. 

 "Okay, okay, Kym. Kym! Listen to me! We still don't even know if it was her, please calm down, you've taken a hell of a  lot-" He sees how upset Kym is. Lauren couldn't be in the factory, could she? His thoughts are lost as Captain Hermann storms over.

 "What the fuck happened here, Hawkes? Ladell?" He demands. Suddenly Will is tired staring at their captain. He's tired, he's cold, he aches all over and Kym is pale and one step away from passing out. Not for the first time, he wants to punch Hermann.

 "Honestly, sir, we have no idea. Lune gave us a lead, we had a face off against the Phantom Scythe and then Lune saved the whole APD force." Hermann continued to rant but Will wasn't listening, his voice was muffled, "with all due respect, sir, Kym is injured and I would like to see her to hospital to get her injuries sorted and get out of this storm before you interrogate us." Hermann stares at him as Will feels Kym sag against him and finally, their captain seems to see them. This wasn't just a routine gone wrong, this was something bigger than they could handle. Will felt out of his depth.

 "You have my leave, Hawkes, but I will want answers eventually. There is a lot to report- a fucking explosion for god sake," Hermann shakes his head and storms off, shouting for medics. Will struggles up with Kym barely conscious, she's begging Will but he can't hear what she's saying. Her voice has gone so quiet, so weak, but when he looks down into her face her eyes are ablaze and her face hard. Will looks at the remains of the burning factory as cold dread slips like the rain down his spine, what if Kym is right- what if Lauren is in there? He never saw Lune up close, but even now his mind is playing tricks, one of the figures really did look awfully like her.

Will holds his head in his hands, hoping to alleviate how heavy it feels. Kym's right. Lauren is Lune... and Kieran? It all makes sense now. A terrible truth. Will is still reeling from Kym telling him she almost died. What would he have done without her? She could be dead right now if it wasn't for Lauren, but would they have even been there if Lune hadn't phoned them? No, stop thinking like a cop. Kym was right about one thing, Lauren was definitely doing a better job, but he hates the two warring sides of him. Lauren, his best friend since childhood going against everything they believe, partnering with someone from the Phantom Scythe and Kieran being in the police force, sworn to protect the city. None of it felt right, but he could not hate Lauren. Had she lied to them or simply omitted the truth?

 "We need to help them," Kym says.

 "How? Kym how can we help? Can we really go against the law in helping them?" Kym stared at him with bloodshot eyes

  "I don't know."

 "We're supposed to arrest them, we're supposed to catch Lauren and Kieran."

  "Will, we can't do that-" Will stands up and begins pacing. What would they do? Make a cover story why Lauren and Kieran never turned up? Never came back to work? Cover why they've disappeared? He can't do it, but Kym would do it.

 "I don't know what you're suggesting, Kym."

 "She's our family, Will. Hell, Kieran too. Just because they're taking the law into their own hands, doesn't make them criminals."

 "Kym we can't have this debate now."

 "It's Lauren, Will."

 "Working with the Phantom Scythe!"

 "Okay, fine, we drag Kieran under the bus and save Lauren. I know this can get us in trouble but we can't let Lauren fall. You know that." Will did know that. Lune's work was praised despite Hermann's hate. Lauren's work was genius if unconventional and against the law.

 "I'm surprised she didn't take matter into her hand sooner," he smiles at Kym, she smiles back. Every instinct in him screams it's a bad idea, but part of him is determined. Finally, he can shakes off the control of his father and the police force. Finally he can be Will, the boy who wanted to join the police for his own reasons and not to follow this stiff and rigid life. He and Kym can be Soleil and for the better.

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The smoke in her lungs is the first thing she registers to acknowledge that, somehow, she hasn't died. Not yet. The second thing was the pain from the gunshot wounds and various other injuries creeping up in her awareness after the explosion. Lauren lays there, not quite sure whether she could move just yet. Her head is strangely empty, the chaos that had ravaged every waking thought leading up to the explosion is silent. Peaceful. Her eyes feel glazed as she watches burning debris shower down around her. She knew she wasn't dying, but even if she was, she was happy because at least she knew her friends- her family- are alive out there right now. She takes another lungful of smoke, this time the searing heat makes her cough, eyes watering. The moments in the factory begin to replay, fractured memories coming in short bursts- finding the crates of nitro, calling the APD, Kym and Will. Her heart lurches in her chest remembering the sickening fear when Kym was thrown over the railings by one of the Phantom Scythe. The sheer desperation in that moment between them. Part of Lauren wishes she never let Kym go from that hug. She wishes she could explain everything to them, god knows what they're thinking right now. Lauren knew she wasn't dead yet, but has no idea if she will make it out alive. The factory rumbles, Lauren can hear the distant noise of people shouting and sirens, but she can't hear Kieran. Why can't she hear him? Slowly she pulls herself up, body stiff and feeling incredibly fragile.

 "Kieran?" She tries to rub her eyes to stop them from blurring, he had been right by her side when she threw the bomb. She remembers his weight pushing against her as they dived away under the cover of a desk. The desk that was now shrapnel around her. "Kieran?" She clumsily pushes the splintered wood from the pile where a dark figure began to emerge. He is just as tattered as she is, but unlike her, he is not breathing. "Kieran!" she holds his shoulders, shaking him. Bastard! She wasn't being left here alone, not again, not like last time. Kieran's face almost distorts into Dylan's, but Lauren shakes her head, takes a deep breath "get your shit together, Lauren. No one else is going to die. Not on my watch". She did not have time for more nightmares and trauma, she needs to stay in the here and now because as much as Kieran pisses her off, they still have so much to uncover. He was a menace, a fool, an absolute moron, but he was her subordinate, dare she say... friend? She had given him no authority to die on her and she did the only thing she could to wake him up.

So she slaps him.

Kieran's head snaps to the side, Lauren could hear the slap echo around the destroyed factory and he had the audacity to open one eye as if a lazy feline.

 "Did you really have to hit that hard, love?" He voice was just as raspy as her own.

 "I hate you." Kieran smiles. Lauren braces his arm and helps pull him up to a sitting position.

 "I feel like I've just aged 20 years," he groans.

 "Yes, well, come on old man, this factory just made it through the apocalypse, I think your old bones will last longer than the building."

 "Ah, yes, that." Kieran has the nerve to smirk.

 "Are you for real?"

 "Listen, we succeeded, yes? This explosion is tiny compared to what it would have been if it was still with the nitro. Just take a minute Lauren- we did it. WE succeed, your city is safe."

 "Our city."

 "Semantics, whatever."

 "Stop being such an ass, we need to go."

 "You forgot the 'smart'."

 "What?"

 "Stop being such a "smart ass", you mean," Kieran laughs as Lauren yanks him up. He gives out a yelp and stumbles.

 "Good," Lauren returns his smirk but her eyes question him.

 "Nothing's broken, just not a spring chicken after, well, y'know, a bomb and a desk exploding on you."

 "Of course." They both look each other up and down, assessing for injuries. They were both in a sorry state- tattered and bedraggled, faces and hands covered in dirt and cuts. They walk unsteadily through the rubble, helping each other climb over the large chunks of building. They couldn't see the moonlight but they could see the flood lights searching the premises from the APD, they walked like shadows, ducking and sneaking through their own mess. Lauren tries to shake away the image burned into her head of Will and Kym as she flew past the window with the bomb. Will looked scared and confused, he still didn't know. But Kym? Kym looked utterly devastated and she wishes she could be back in Kym's arms, hugging her, telling her it's alright. She wishes she had the chance to tell her friends, her family, about Lune. About all of this. A rumbling forces her out of her reverie.

 "Laur-!" Kieran, in front, whips around to her. They both look at each other as the rubble beneath them begins to slide taking them with it. Unable to run they are unable to flee the loose wall that falls down upon them.

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He takes a sharp intake of breath as Lauren slaps him, his second breath is shakey as he pulls himself from unconsciousness to Lauren staring at him as if he had been dead. Perhaps briefly. 

 "You have to stop slapping me."

  "And you need to stop looking dead."

 "Dead gorgeous."

 "I will kill you if this factory fails to do so." After the wall fell on them, Lauren has a crack on her hair line, blood trickling down her face. It makes Kieran incredibly angry. The only red that should line her face should be her hair. He almost reaches up, but it's pretty clear his right arm is out of action and he's currently supporting himself on his left. Kieran lays himself back down on the rubble.

 "Hey!"

 "I'm still here, princess." But he isn't, not quite. Jeez, how much of a hit did his head take? He could not shake the shadows making his breathing come out in stutters. He could hear Lauren calling him but she sounds so terribly distant. Why is she so far away? Where is he? Chains rattle, voices whispering around him. Blood runs into his eye and he remembers his own voice begging- young and scratchy. He remembers how he learnt how to hide his pain, quieten his screams. To learn not to beg while standing on his tippy-toes at the whim of masked hands. A hand connects with his face again and he flinches.

 "I swear if you hit me one more time-" he rambles, trying to muster his sarcasm before realising Lauren has both her hands cupping his face, her face utterly afraid and completely open.
 "Where did you go?"

 "I'm still here"

 "Bloody well stay, then. Come one, the factory won't last much longer than we will if we don't get moving." Her voice was shaky and Kieran tries to blink away the shadows leaking through the cracks of his memory. Lauren gets up hesitantly, checking herself over for any injuries as Kieran pulls himself from the rubble, apart from his limp right arm and deep gashes, he is still in one tired piece. Lauren has a slight limp, but she too is unharmed. Well, he considers them unharmed since they're both not dead.

 "Take my arm- ah, my left preferably- we can't lose each other and will probably make better head way keeping each other standing." He pulls Lauren to him, both trembling and falling into silence as the stagger through the last remains of the factory as it crumbles around them. Kieran could see floodlights breaking through and the shout of the police but they were too far away to see them, plus the police would not enter the building until deemed safe. They were, ironically, safe in this death trap.

 "What now?" Lauren heaves herself out of a blown out window.

 "Survive. I don't know. We need to get out of here and cleaned up before anything else." He is mildly surprised that she does not argue but only nods and helps him out of the window. Who knew being one armed is such a bother? "We just have to keep to the shadows and head for the cave- it's safer than my flat or your house." Again, Lauren only nods. Perhaps she's in shock. Perhaps I'm in shock, he muses, pushing his hair back.

There were many times Kieran had fled like a fugitive, but he was always alone. This time  he isn't, this time he finds himself not only dragging his own body through tight alley-ways, but also Lauren's. Sometimes she's dragging him. But they make it to the forest, slowing their pace as they weave their way through to the cave, allowing the rain to cool them and wash some of the muck from them. Kieran sets candles alight and kindles a fire, he holds Lauren's shoulders and directs her to one of two chairs at the fire. He gets the first aid kit and fresh clothes and they both begin to take off their damp clothes.

 "Let me see," Lauren says as Kieran goes to pull away.

 "I thought privacy would be best, y'know." He tries to smirk.

 "I check your wounds, you check mine- deal?" She stares at him steadily.

 "You first- no arguments." Lauren opens how mouth but closes it. Wow, he thought, I won an argument. She's not okay. Lauren sits in her shift as Kieran applies a salve to the worst of her bruises and grazes. He is gentle as he tips her head up and carefully washes the crack in her head before applying butterfly stitches. He is careful not to touch her anymore than necessary.
 "Does anywhere else hurt? Anything internal?"

 "Everything hurts, but I'm fine. You're turn." He does not push or argue, so he lets her change into one of his shirts and an old pair of jogging bottoms before he peels off the rest of his clothes and allows her to assess the grazes on his back and see to his broken arm. "I'm not sure I can fix a broken arm, we might need to get you to a hospital," she says as she bounds it carefully but tightly and makes a sling.

 "I've dealt with breaks before don't worry." She hesitates but doesn't question and he is so thankful for that. 

 "Anywhere else hurt?"

 "The same as you, everything hurts but I'm fine." They both sit on the chairs, clothes and medical supplies discarded around them. Lauren is already beginning to nod off, head resting on her fist, legs curled up under her. Kieran watches her fall asleep and is grateful because they could both be dead, or in the clutches of the APD or the Phantom Scythe. Instead of watching her die, she gets to sleep. She's safe, he's safe. He feels like his whole life has been a big mess, a failure, but this time, this time he gets to win. It's a small win, and a shit show bound to follow, but he allows himself to smile and to let himself feel vulnerable. He almost died today but she gave him a chance. 

 "Thank you, Lauren." Kieran wipes his eyes and lays back and he too, is overcome by sleep.